Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-02-07
DOWN TO DEATH.
AN AWFUL RAILROAD DISASTER
IN VERMONT.
Four Carloads of Passengers Dashed
from Bridse-Terrible Scenes
Killed and Injured.
[BY TILEGBAPH TO THE REcoRD-usIoN.l

Killed and Injured.
BY TELEGRAPH TO THE RTcoRpUNIoN.l
| CONCORD IN. H., February 5th.-The ex-
press train that left Boston at o'clock last
night met with terrible accident near
| Woodstock, on the Central Vermont Rail-
road, about $50 this morning. The train
started from this city on time, but was de-
tanned at White River Junction, so that it
was about an hour and half late. 1t con-
sisted of locomotive, baggage car, postal
car, two passenger coaches and two Sleep
ers, and was running at the usual rate of
speed, when, about 200 yards south of the
end of the bank of the bridge near Old
Windsor Station, broken rail was struck
| The locomotive, baggage car and postal
broke away from the rest of the train,
passing over the bridge in safety. The rest
of the train was thrown from the rails and
continued on the roadbed until it came
near the end of the bridge, but there it ran
over an abutment, and all the cars fellinto
White river, some fifty feet down. The
gorge at this point is frightful one. and
| when the cars went down there was a ter
rible crash. As soon as possible the de-
| tached part of the train was stopped and
run back to the scene of the disaster The
| screams of the injured were heartrending.
| Assistance came from the people in the Vi
cinity, and everything was done to rescue
and relieve the injured. Soon after help
arrived it was discovered that a fire had
| started in the first coach, and the entire
/ oh thriO aII
new horrors to the frightful catastrophe.
| Those present were powerless to stop the
| fire. and devoted themselves entirely to
! attempting to rescue those imprisoned in
| the wreck. The rescuers met another and
| unexpected obstacle in the heat which
soon became so intense that they were
obliged to relinquish their efforts to save
| the sufferers, and were compelled to re-
treat to a place of safety for themselves
and to become unwilling and horror
| stricken witnesses of the awful scene. In
addition to this, and to add to the horrors
and suffering of the passengers the weather
was intensely cold, and the heroic rescuers
were hindered thereby in their work. No
water could be obtained with which to
| check or to extingnish the flames, and the
| ice was several inches thick on the river,
and there were no appliances at hand TO
raise it.
The bridge was between thirty and forty
| feet above the water, which was covered
| with thick ice, making it probable that
death resulted from crushing and burning,
| rather than from drowning. Several were
penned in the wreck who might have been
rescued alive but for the flames. Brake
| man Parker. who was on the forward end
| of the first passenger car, felt the jar, and
saved his life by jumping. He quickly
| secured conveyance and carried the news
| to White River Junction.
HEARTRENpING SCENES.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION (Vt.), February
| 5th-When the relief train from White
River Junction reached the wreck the pro-
| gress of the flames had been so rapid that
| the bridge and five cars were practically de-
stroyed. A few burning timbers were seen
| and the ronwork of the bridge was scat
| tered over the ice. The only house near
| the scene was that of farmer, and had it
not been for his hospitable roof some OF the
| injured would doubtless have persisted
| from exposure.
Charles NJ. Lasmer, of Lowell, Mass,
| who was on the train, states that he was in
! the Central Vermont sleeping car. e can
| remember" he said, 'twenty-one others
who were in the car with me. knew none
| of them personally. There were fxe ladies
among them. | was awakened by the
humping of the car, then came the crash,
and all was darkness"
Mr.. Mccarthy, who went on the relief
train and looked over the track, says that
the broken rail was about twenty rods from
the bridge, and that the engine and first
two cars did not leave the iron. The bag
gage and mail ears were preserved intact.
One man died soon after being carried into
the mail car. Mr.. Mccarthy saw a man
RI IL, !, ha L
of the river and both were dead. A woman
was lying on the snow, and kind persons
had covered her with what spare clothing
they could procure. Soon after there was
sufficient to help her to the hotel. She was
badly hurt, but still alive.
The first TO go to the rescue OF the pas
sengers generally were the engineer, Chas.
Pierce, and the fireman. By the time they
reached the imprisoned passengers the
wreck was on fire. They hurried to the
first coach and there discovered conductor
Sturtevant pinned down under the weight
of timber. They sprang to his rescue and
bravely sought to rescue him. They broke
one of the car windows TO get at him, but
in vain. They tried another with the same
result. They hammered away at the frame
of the third. This time they got at him.
Each got hold Of an arm and pulled with
all their might, and at last got him out,
but not before his legs and body were fear
fully burned. His ribs and thigh bones
were broken. He was laid out upon the
ice, and the rescuers FASTENED to eXtricate
other unfortunates. They now went TO
Marie Sadler, of Ormstown. p Q. She was
pinned down by heavy broken tinbers, and
unable to move. The men got hold of her
and pulled with all their strength. At last
they got her free, but they broke her ankle
in dong so.
as soon as the flames had subsidized suf1i-
GENTLY the work of recovering the bodies
from the wreck was begun. Most of the |
remains are so charred as to be unrecog- |
nizable. The body of Pullman Conductor |
Burgess was the first one taken out. 1t was |
not badly mutilated. The remains of the |
porter of one of the cars were identified by |
his clothing and watch. The body of A. |
Wesson, son of the well known arms man
ufacturer of Springfield, was identified to-
night by friends from his home. In the |
pocket of blue dresS-coat was found a |
letter written upon the letter head of C. w. |
Sanford, agent of the Moxie Nerve Food |
Company, dated Washington and adj
dressed TO Dear Charles" The body of |
the owner is supposed TO have been en-
tirely destroyed and is supposed by travel |
ing men to have been that of Charles w.
Sanford, formerly in the employ of l.. C.
tidSS ~ 70, DiStpH. ne coat EelODRluS
to Charles y. Hibbard, of Boston, was also
found.
Most of the bodies recovered were taken
to the village OF Hartford and placed in an
undertaker's establishment. Thirty-nine
bodies in all have been taken out of the
wreck, and only five of this number are III
any manner recognizable 1t will be inn
possible to tell how many were on the i.
train, IS the conductor had only begun to
take up the tickets after leaving here.
Many bodies have probably gone into the
river and under the ice.
BOYS TERRIBLE ORDEAL.
One of the first passengers to escape from
the burning wreck was Joseph Magnet, a
French Canadian boy He was with his
father, David Magnet, on their way from
Holyoke to their home in Canada. The
boy sat three seats behind his father in the
third car from the rear. He was doing in
mn